The Kano State Governor’s defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has been condemned by the New Nigeria Peoples Social gathering, NNPP.
In keeping with the social gathering’s Nationwide Secretary, Dipo Olayoku, the defection is an indication of a broader collapse of constitutional federalism in Nigeria.
Recall that on Monday, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf formally joined the APC alongside 22 members of the Kano State Home of Meeting and 9 federal lawmakers at an occasion held on the Coronation Corridor of the Kano Authorities Home.
In keeping with him, the choice adopted in depth consultations and was aimed toward strengthening governance and accelerating improvement within the state.
The governor additionally acknowledged that higher alignment with the Federal Authorities beneath President Bola Tinubu would enhance cooperation, service supply, and open up new improvement prospects for the state.
Reacting to this, Olayoku, whereas talking on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, and monitored by our correspondent in Abeokuta on Tuesday, mentioned the defection was not completely stunning however remained unsettling for the social gathering management.
Olayoku asserted that the present federal construction undermines true federalism and reduces state governors to mere subordinates of the presidency.
“Sadly, in the present day, what we’ve got in Nigeria is a principal—that’s the president and sophistication captains, the governors. That’s what the present administration has decreased our governors to.
“It didn’t come as a shock, however it’s stunning. His defection wasn’t one thing we might have prevented. We did all the pieces attainable inside our attain, however finally, the choice was his. There are pressures in our democracy in the present day that make conditions like this inevitable.
“We’ve seen related instances, like Governor Siminalayi Fubara in Rivers State, and the pressures from the ruling social gathering might be intense.”
He asserted that Governor Yusuf had encountered extreme strain from exterior sources and ongoing resistance from federal establishments, which he mentioned made governance difficult.
“When you have a governor who provides an order and the Commissioner of Police counters it, then it tells you the kind of democracy we’re in,” Olayoku mentioned.
Olayoku cautioned that the defection pattern poses a risk to Nigeria’s multiparty democracy past social gathering politics, including that, “It isn’t a lesson for the NNPP. It’s a wake-up name to Nigerians. Multiparty democracy in Nigeria is beneath severe risk.”
